


custodians

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 08:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18846958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Five years after Midland Circle, Matt gets a cat.  Her name is Sparkle and he loves her.  She's a gift - five years without intensive care - and he dedicates himself to another five years if he can keep her alive and fluffy.She's fluffy as shit.Danny already has a baby girl by then but she's got nothing on Sparkle - she's not nearly fluffy enough - and Jessica gets married and divorced and buys him a new couch when she spends her fifth week fighting Sparkle for territory and losing.  Luke buys a new car - not used, not leased - brand fucking new.Five years - fluffy as shit.Luke fucks off in year six, which translates to 'fell in love with a pilot' fuck your business, and Sparkle has her first and last batch of kittens in year seven - all fluffy as shit but not fluffy enough - because Danny dies in year eight and Matt stops counting the years by his near-death experience.  Danny isn't supposed to die - nobody's supposed to die - and he would give up anything - everything - even the cats - to be three seconds faster and take the blast instead of Danny.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so I totally fail at bingo so far because while I have crossed off a few boxes, they are nowhere close to each other. Bingo is hard!
> 
> Anyway, here's another box checked on my Marvel Bingo for 'single parent' that doesn't quite fit. I tried to play with style but it didn't totally pan out but it was fun and I kind of like it. There will be some follow-ups added to this when I finish a few other things.

Five years after Midland Circle, Matt gets a cat. Her name is Sparkle and he loves her more than he loves himself. She's a gift - five years without intensive care - and he dedicates himself to another five years if he can keep her alive and fluffy.

She's fluffy as shit.

Danny already has a baby girl by then but she's got nothing on Sparkle - she's not nearly fluffy enough - and Jessica gets married and divorced and buys him a new couch when she spends her fifth week fighting Sparkle for territory and losing. Luke buys a new car - not used, not leased - brand fucking new.

Five years - fluffy as shit.

 

* * *

 

Luke fucks off to 'see the world' in year six, which translates to 'fell in love with a pilot' fuck your business, and Sparkle has her first and last batch of kittens in year seven - all fluffy as shit but not fluffy enough - because Danny dies in year eight and Matt stops counting the years by his near-death experience. Danny isn't supposed to die - nobody's supposed to die - and he would give up anything - everything - even the cats - to be three seconds faster and take the blast instead of Danny.

Danny's a hero - everyone's very sorry for their loss - and Colleen fucks off with the kid so they don't have to listen to it all day every day. Luke moves back to Harlem with some new warrants and broken hearts and Matt suits up seven nights a week and wins every case that Foggy lets him take between biannual 5150 holds in the newly built Rand Memorial Hospital. Jessica loses her three year sobriety chip and Matt gets an eating disorder. Everyone gets a therapist.

Five years - five years.

 

* * *

 

"Miao. _Miao_. Mew. _Miao_."

He can't tell the cats apart when he's tired, does that make him a bad parent?

Probably. He fumbles for the phone vibrating on the nightstand and hits the right button. "What."

_"You are home - dude - open your door."_

"Why?"

_"Because someone's at your door, Asshole. I'm across town and I guarantee you don't want me to be there right now."_

He slides out of the silky sheets, dragging the top one along with him where it sticks to some split stitches. "I don't hear - " But then he does. He hears people outside his door, not knocking but standing. Waiting. "I'll call you back."

 _"Yeah you will - "_ He tosses the phone aside, kicks off the sheet and stops at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me."

Christ. He slides the chain off and twists the deadbolt. Colleen and the kid - tall as fuck kid - stare at him from the hallway. "Come in."

Whatever Colleen's wearing is expensive and her hug - it's not the kind of hug he remembers - but Danny's gone and there's no coming back from that. "Hey. You were missed."

She shivers and - there's the hug he remembers - her fingers dig into his sides. "Sorry for just - "

"Hold that thought," he says, turning aside to greet the girl. "Hey, Chiclet - are you - " The girl hugs him twice as tightly as Colleen and holds on for much longer, almost sobbing into his stomach when she used to only be able to reach his waist.

"Do you have time to talk?" Colleen says after a long moment.

"I have as much time as you want, Colleen," he replies. "Do you have luggage or - "

"Please, Mother? Can we stay?" Amorette Rand asks in a too small voice, still clinging to him even with curious fluffy kittens within her reach. Something's wrong here. 'Mother'? What happened to Mama or Mom even - what's 'Mother'?

 

* * *

 

Mora finally gives the cats the attention they deserve and has a nice little cuddle pile going in Matt's room when he places a mug of coffee in front of her.

"She looks like Danny. I know you can't see it, but - hell, everyone with eyes can match those blonde curls and doe eyes to the late great Iron Fist."

"That's not what this is about, is it?" Matt asks.

She inhales and he takes her hand because she's building to something - something he's not going to like.

"I taught her to fight. Home-schooled her and hid her from the world. I - she hates me. Danny - "

"Danny's not here," Matt cuts her off, squeezing her hand. "Tell me."

She does.

Vengeance and bloodlust is one thing, but letting the kid witness it is a whole other thing. Colleen's sobbing in his arms when she's done so at least she gets it. Better late than never.

"She wants to come home. New York's home to her," Colleen says. "But I can't - not yet - not until - "

"You're staying tonight. No arguments. We'll talk everything out, the three of us and Sparkle."

She laughs. "Her kids don't get a say?"

"Her kids aren't old enough to make valid judgments."

 

* * *

 

No one's surprised - not even the kid - when Colleen ghosts them three days after turning up. But everyone's a little surprised - shocked even - that Claire and Misty Knight skip town like bail-jumpers - taking all the sharpest weapons in Matt's lock-box without leaving a note.

It's so rude, he can't bring himself to tell Sparkle the truth, especially not after Luke's reaction to the exodus. Being called second string under the circumstances is also rude but he lets it go since Luke has hella girl problems.

Mora's not upset, at least not that Matt can tell and confesses over breakfast - allegedly too bright for hangover cereal - that Colleen promised to take her anywhere she wanted if she forgot another birthday and Mora wanted to see Uncle Matt. Christ.

The guest room gets a new bed and a new lock and Jessica's relegated to the futon for overnight visits again if she's unwilling to accept accidental cuddles from sharing his bed.

His place already has a lot of cat rules so they add little Mora's specifications to the Foggy-managed chalkboard in the kitchen and his friends go all-in on testing this 'village raises a child' theory.

 

* * *

 

"Boarding school?"

"Blasphemy."

"Catholic school?"

"Opposite of blasphemy but still completely overruled."

"Public school?"

"In Hell's Kitchen?"

"What about a tutor?"

"Meow."

"Agreed."

"You can't just agree with the cat - nobody here speaks cat."

"She said private school."

"She said meow."

"Just because you won't let her have a vote doesn't mean she's not capable of offering ideas."

 

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long Beach is not Long Island. Weird.

  
Mora doesn't want to be a ninja soldier - or a princess - she wants to be an 'influencer' and Matt's not completely sure what it means when he first hears it but Jessica and Foggy's heartbeats both stutter like she said Heil Hydra or something equally nefarious.

She likes video games and dressing up and demands manicures instead of ice cream for rewards for chores.

Matt's therapist says that he's handling things very well but has no advice for pre-teen girls that ask their blind temporary guardians to make sure the glow-stars on her room's ceiling are astrologically aligned or whatever the fuck. Seriously, the fuck.

He feels like her service human when she leads him into boutiques and toy stores, introducing him as her stylist and making him Face-time the trips with Jessica or Karen, whoever would answer the phone.

He's never met a kid that looked forward to wearing uniforms and going to school but Mora flourishes at her fancy private academy and has to wake him up most days to walk her to the bus if Luke or Foggy weren't around with a car.

She's been in school a solid month before she walks into his office and pushes her thin phone into his hand.

"It's Mom, she sucks," Amorette says.

Colleen sighs through the speaker. _"I said I was sorry. Shit. Hey, Matt."_

"What did you do this time? We started a scale of trauma and you're currently winning at ruining the next generation one abandoned kid at a time," Matt replies. Mora's heart skips but he doesn't take it back. He's known Colleen too long. He knows Danny would hate her for what she's doing to their kid.

 _"I promised I would call her every day but I missed one because of fucking customs,_ " Colleen says.

"I didn't know you were mad at Mom. I wanted to stay, I asked to stay," Mora says softly, the hint of salt from oncoming tears.

"I love your mother like a sister which gives me the right to be mad at her whenever I please," Matt says, _politely_ , to the child.

" _Aw,"_ Colleen says.

"Still mad," he directs at the phone. "Apologize to your daughter and call me on a secure line when you're ready to be a grown up." He pushes the phone back at Mora and makes a shooing motion with his hand.

Mora walks out of the room and he has to call for backup, whistling for Sparkle to come talk him down. He can't be mad that Colleen's keeping in touch with her kid - that's the best thing he's heard in days - but she should keep in touch with the rest of them, too.

The kid returns with the wrong cat - Twinkle is not as comforting as his mother - and puts the phone down again so Colleen can clear her throat. _"I'm sorry for not telling you the whole truth. Or any of the truth."_

He scritches the surrogate cat and allows him to purr on his shoulder. Twinkle tries his best. "You call her every day?"

 _"Yes, I'm doing my best to keep my promises,"_ Colleen says and he doesn't need to hear her heartbeat to believe her. _"It's only temporary - she - loves it there."_

"You could have asked - " Matt starts.

 _"No, I couldn't. I - "_ she hesitates.

"Make time for a visit, Colleen - make it happen. Holiday, movie release, mall opening - I don't care - "

"What's a mall?"

Finally Sparkle arrives and chases off the inferior cat and settles his nerves with soft paws batting at his pants until he picks her up.

 _"Deal. And I'll start calling you - once a week,"_ Colleen says.

Mora shifts. "So you don't have to be mad at her anymore, right?"

 _"Amorette doesn't like confrontation,"_ Colleen says.

"Miao," Sparkle agrees so he nods.

_"Thank you."_

And that makes it official - or as official as they need to make it when Mora's already in school and has 421 Instagram followers.

"I love you, Mom, talk to you tomorrow," Mora says and the swipe of her finger ends the call. "Uncle Matt?"

"Yes, dear?"

"What's a mall?"

 

* * *

 

  
Luke moves in when Matt and Jessica have to deal with a Yakuza problem in Long Island - and Matt is flattered, at first, that she throws such a spectacular tantrum - until he has to mediate over the phone. Luke can't tell the cats apart and has no respect for pop music and messed with the settings on the microwave.

He passes the phone off to Jess so he can punch away his feelings and regrets and deep, unsettling thoughts about pop music and by the time they make it to a motel to lick and duct-tape their wounds - Mora and Uncle Luke are posting selfies on Instagram and Matt's committed to hosting a makeover party in three days if he makes it back.

He doesn't let the Devil out unless he has an adult to stay with the cats, and the kid, while he's on patrol but Jess is his favorite partner now that Danny's gone. She lets him do his fancy kicks and flips and always catches the men he flings her way for the knockout.

He doesn't want to say he's gotten better with age - but the stalker websites that always find videos of his battles say it for him. He spits blood and kicks rocks and Jessica lets him play little spoon in the motel and pretends like she's not texting her ex-wife the whole time.

Matt calls Foggy on the train ride back when Jess is bleeding and snoring on his shoulder and arranges his cases for the following week - he's been in the courtroom more in the past three months than he has the past five years - but he can't start thinking like that. He's a good lawyer. He's a good vigilante. He's a passable guardian for his dead friend's kid.  He's doing okay.  He's doing fine.  

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *Danny totally named the kid.


End file.
